Las Vegas' Original Brewery
Our first batches of beer started in a modest brewhouse located in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip. Dubbed the name “Holy Cow!” in 1993, it wasn’t until 2003 that we relocated the brewery to its current location just 8 miles northwest of downtown Las Vegas. We also renamed to Big Dog’s Brewing Company in honor of our late founder, Tom “Big Dog” Wiesner and haven’t slowed down since.. Today our brewery team works in unison to develop some of the most unique and flavorful beers in Las Vegas. With an emphasis on consistent core brews and exciting seasonal/reserve beers, our brewers continue to put our spin on original, local beer flavor.
It’s amazing to think about the journey we’ve been with craft beer over the past 30 years. What we didn’t fully realize at the time was that we were truly at the forefront of a MOVEMENT that was starting to take place in the early 1990’s. We were the 114th brewpub to open in this modern era that now sports over 8000 breweries in the United States of America. Craft beer is no longer a novelty; it is engrained into communities across the land – including right here in Nevada. What started out with Great Basin Brewing in the North and us down in the southern end, now includes over 50 breweries. From Lake Tahoe to Ruby Mountain to North Las Vegas to the Arts District, Booze District, Reno Brewery district and more, the #BattleBorn Nevadan entrepreneurs behind this movement are making things happen!
Please join us as celebrate this milestone all year long with special events, tastings, tappings, dinners and other fun things!
One very tangible way we are celebrating our 30th year of making award-winning craft beer is the opening of our new on-site tap room bar. We’ve carved out a niche of our original dining room and have turned it into a more traditional, smoke-free tap room featuring its own 20 tap bar. Here on these taps you will find some extremely limited, exclusive beers that have rarely left the brewery. Enjoy it all our beautiful new polished red oak live edge bar, one of our tap room tables, or at one of our lounge couches and chairs, This is a place to come and enjoy your time with a delicious craft beer. Perfectly paired food choices are available as well.
We are teaming up with four special businesses in 2023 to collaborate on some specially made brews. These beers will each be featured – in conjunction with some of our most treasured community partners that have supported us throughout the years – at our four on-site beer festival events. Each of these beers will be available on draft at the collaborators. Package will be available at the brewery.
Winterfest – Collaboration with The Silver Stamp. Beer: “Lady & The Stam” Czech-style Lager.
Peace, Love & Hoppiness Fest – Collaboration with 595 Craft Kitchen.
Summer Fest & Reggae Party – Collaboration with Khoury’s Fine Wine & Spirits.
DOGtoberfest – Collaboration with SER-VEH-ZAH
The craft beer community is unlike most competitive industries out there. Instead of being cut throat and trying to get the upper hand against similar local businesses, the local brewing community works together to build each other up and raise the tide in favor of local craft producers. We proudly get behind great groups like the Nevada Craft Brewers Association, which promotes and supports Nevada’s breweries and brewpubs and is an advocate for more modern beer laws in the State of Nevada. We support the NCBA throughout the year at its annual beer festivals, beer runs and fund raising events.
We are proudly hosting an ALL-NEVADA TAP TAKEOVER event on Saturday, May 20th with proceeds benefiting the Nevada Craft Brewers Association. By the way, that means there will be 50+ Nevada-born beers on tap for this fun event. Live music and food specials , too!
The first Thursday of the month is always a special night as that is the night that our Brewery team will be heading behind the Big Dog’s Tap Room bar to serve as a special guest beer tender for the night Not only can they entertain you with stories from the brewery, but they will also be able to tell you the stories behind the very beers you are enjoying at the Tap room beer bar! Also, learn about what is in the pipeline and share with them what you are looking for us to make in the future.
“Magnum” is our official 30th Anniversary beer. It is big and beautiful, just like the dog that inspired us for over 17 years. Magnum the beer is a classic Strong Ale that will have been aging in Heaven Hills bourbon barrels for the better part of a year upon its release in September 2023. Magnum the dog epitomized so many of the great things people love about Man’s Best Friends – loyal, caring, mischievous, unconditional love. We miss our Magnum greatly but he lives on in spirit and in everything we do. Cheers to Magnum!
We love our brewery team. They are truly a fun group of guys, with bold, strong personalities that somehow are very different from each other while being very cohesive together at the same time, Their sense of detail comes through in the excellent beers they turn out. Their sense of humor comes through in how they name their beers. Frankly, most of the ideas and beer names for our seasonal brews come from the brewhouse team.
For our 30th Anniversary celebration, we thought we’d unleash a new series of cans that lets a slice of each brewer’s personality shine through. Not only did they decide on and design their own brew, but they also collaborated with local artist David Yett on some unique can and logo designs inspired by classic comic books that shine a spotlight on each of our brew team. Cans will be released on Wednesday, September 13th at the brewery. Stay tuned for more details!
David Pascual Beer: Nec-Romantic IPA
Jamie Roberts Beer: Dogzilla, Japanese-style Lager
Sam McKinney Beer: Sonnehund Urtyp Czech Pilsner
Marshall Lyttle Beer: Apocalypse Meow English-style Bitter
We’re throwing a party from 9/13 – 9/19 to celebrate our 30th anniversary! Check back for more details but rest assured that beer dinners, tappings, tap takeovers, and special giveaways will be involved in all corners of the valley!
Part of the Big Dog’s Beer Week celebration includes a special tap takeover event at our home base @ Big Dog’s Draft House. We’ll be celebrating Thursday 9/14 thru Sunday 9/17 with a special weekend of beer and bbq food. Every single one of our 50+ taps in the building will be flowing with special Big Dog’s Brews, including several one-off versions of favorite beers that were crafted in honor of the weekend! Chef Sergio and the crew will also be cranking out a delicious BBQ platter Finally, we will be highlighting local musician artists all weekend as well with a special performance calendar.
Tune in as we get closer to get all of the details!
Be sure to check out our 30 anniversary collection of legendary swag including t-shirts, hats, growlers , glassware, and other merchandise to commemorate the 30th anniversary celebration.
Check back soon for more details!
Anniversary celebration plans are subject to change.
